Hashtag Tuesday: #creatinghashtags

We spent the first two weeks of our new Hashtag Tuesday feature giving you the origin and story of two great Twitter #’s…..thanks to my friend Joe Anthony. This week, it’s my turn and I wanted to talk about how cycling hashtags get started more than focusing on one specific tag.

Hashtags are synonymous with Twitter and in my opinion they are another one of the funky things that makes being a “Tweep” so very cool. But in case you really don’t know what the whole Hashtag thing is all about…here’s a quick lesson.

Twitter Hashtags 101

Definition:The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

Hashtags: helping you find interesting Tweets

People use the hashtag symbol (#) before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search.

Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.

Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.

Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Example: Below, @marijolamarche added the hashtag before the words “Cycling”, “Paradise” and “PR” in her message referring to some tag words associated with a tweet about her Puerto Rico trip. The words are now a link to search results for all Tweets containing those words in the message.

Creating a Cycling Hashtag

Okay, so you’re on twitter and you want to create a cycling hashtag that will take off and get people tweeting about it. Creating it is easy….but getting people to buy into it is another story. @bikerly, @egggman, and I took #bikeschool and have had great success with it in Twitterville (but we’ll talk more about #bikeschool in an upcoming Hashtag Tuesday feature). But I’ve seen a whole bunch of Cycling #’s that didn’t make it past one tweet.

Here’s some tips on how to make your Hashtag stick:

Length: Create a fairly short hashtag that is quite easily recognizable and definable. I’ve seen things like #howwasyourridetoday and #izacyclist and kind of see why they didn’t take off. An abbreviation or acronym can work as long as it’s a common topic….#NAHBS may not look like it would catch on, but because it the common acronym for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, it works.

Excitement: Create a hashtag that gets people excited or is something they are passionate about. We all love and are excited about riding so it’s no surprise that area specific cycling tags are very popular (#bikeLA, #bikeTO, and #bikeUK)

Relevance: It seems like hashtags work very well when they relate to what is being mentioned in a tweet. #cycling, #bicycle, #whyweride, and other relevant cycling hashtags continue to get used due to their relevance to what is being tweeted out.

Create It

With all of this said, there are a couple cycling hashtags that I’d like to see created. If you didn’t guess, one is #LovingtheBike which is a tag to be used in tweets that pertain to people showing love for cycling. Not only does it keep our brand strong on Twitter, but also provides a pretty Exciting, Relevant, and appropriate Length tag….if we do say so ourselves.

Another tag I’d like to see take off comes from my friend @RaceG206. She tweeted once about Cycling being like a church….and a perfect hashtag to be created from that would be #CyclingChurch. Let’ make it happen.

What kind of Cycling Hashtag would you like to see created? Let’s hear about it and we’ll help you get it out there and trending.

Hi Jym, yes that directory was actually put together by our contributor, Joe Anthony from Bike Commute News. There are a lot of location specific tags and it’s great to see them being used. Thanks for checking out the post.

I would have to say that #bikeschool is my favorite and most interactive #. It’s where I can meet with friends and have fun every Thursday night. It’s really the only # I’ve taken an interest in. I’m not sure about creating any on my own, I’m not sure if I want to trend or would rather help others to trend. Let’s # tomorrow Darryl.

My question is other than juice, can you suggest modifications in lieu of table sugar for energy and hydration.

Answer:

Both raw/organic honey or agave can work great in the homebrew (substitute in the same quantities for the sugar, or to taste), but you do have to shake well in order to make sure they don’t settle out. Have you tried either of these? Also, make sure to use at least the minimum amount of salt recommended in the homebrew as the temps rise, you need the sodium replacement if you’re sweating.